1. The Litigation Chamber of the Belgian Data Protection
Authority
– Hielke Hijmans –
Chairman of the
Litigation Chamber
– Dagmar Waegeman–
Legal advisor
21.09.2023

2. I. General presentation of the Belgian DPA
Belgian Data Protection Authority
[ Articles 3 – 7 of the Act establishing the Data Protection Authority ]
First Line Service
Awareness raising,
information, mediation,
and complaint handling
[ Art. 22 ]
General
Secretariat
Horizontal Supporting
Tasks - Executive Tasks
[ Art. 19 – 21 ]
Knowledge
Centre
Advice and
recommendations
[ Art. 23 – 27 ]
Inspection
Service
Investigations
[ Art. 28 – 31 ]
Litigation
Chamber
Administrative litigation -
Enforcement
[ Art. 32 – 34 ]
Direction Committee
[ Articles 9 – 18 ]
Director Secretary General
Chairman of the BDPA (3y)
Director
+ 6 Members
Inspector-General Chairman
+ 6 Members

3. II. General presentation of the Litigation Chamber
► 9 collaborators (legal advisors)
► 2 bailiffs
► 1902 complaints in 2022
► 189 decisions leading to a sanction in 2022 (738.600
EUR)
Source: hhttps://www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be/publications/jaarverslag-2022.pdf

4. II. General presentation of the Litigation Chamber
► Legal Framework
► EU level: GDPR
► National level:
► Act establishing the Data Protection Authority (3 December 2017)
► Composition of the Litigation Chamber
► Chairman and 6 external members
Internal discussions jointly with two sitting members.
Knowledge and expertise in the field of data protection,
ICT or administrative law is required
► Risk: potential conflict of interest when other affiliations.
► Once the LCA is amended - if passed by the House of
Representatives - this system will be fundamentally
changed.
► Procedural rules within the Belgian DPA (BDPA)/Litigation Chamber

5. II. General presentation of the Litigation Chamber
► Legal Framework
► National level: Law on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal
data (30 July 2018)
► Judgements of the Constitutional Court (for example the division of competences between
the Federal Litigation Chamber and regional DPA’s)
► Internal Rules, approved by the Chamber of Representatives

6. III. Tasks of the Litigation Chamber
Article 32 LCA: Litigation Chamber is the Administrative Dispute Resolution Body
Building a consistent body of “case law” (decisions)
GDPR instruments: warnings and corrective measures
Cooperation on international and European level with regard to the application of the
GDPR
European Data Protection Board
• Enforcement subgroup (art. 65 decisions)
• Cooperation subgroup (for ex. Procedural Regulation, harmonised complaint form etc.)

7. IV. Procedure
A. Complaint filed by the data subject or a business with the BDPA
and declared admissible by the First Line Service
(written, dated and signed complaint)
B. Case opened following intervention of the Inspection Service
(either via self-referral or on instruction of the Direction Committee in case of
serious indications of an infringement)
C. Complaint to another EEA SA, where the BDPA is identified as
Lead Supervisory Authority (OSS, via Internal Market Information System
(IMI))
First Line
Service
Examination of the complaint’s admissibility
(if necessary after failed mediation)
Litigation
Chamber
Decision by the Litigation Chamber
Litig. Ch. /
Inspection
Service
Monitoring the enforcement of the decision
Market
Court
Appeal - if any - before the Market Court
(Brussels Court of Appeal)
Citizen or
business
Art. 58 – Any person may submit a written,
dated and signed complaint or request to the
Data Protection Authority.

8. IV. Procedure
Complaint filed with the DPA and declared admissible
by the First Line Service
► New cases allocated on a weekly basis to the legal advisors
(FR & NL) of the Litigation Chamber
► Case summary and suggested approach discussed w/ Chairman
(dismissal, referral to Inspection Service, deal with the case on the merits, light procedure)
► 30 days to decide whether to refer the case to the Inspection Service
(also for additional inspection)
“Article 95-decision” (light decision, “prima facie”)
► dismissal
► propose a settlement
► issue warnings
► order to comply with the data subject’s request
► order to inform the data subject about a data incident
“Article 98-letter” to plaintiffs and defendants
❑ Notify the parties of the Litigation Chamber’s intent to
deal with the case on its merits (“Article 100-decision”)
❑ Inform the parties of the language of the proceedings
❑ Inform the defendants of all the grievances against them
(within scope of complaint vs. findings from Inspection)
❑ Give all parties access to the initial complaint, the
inventory and the inspection report
❑ Invite the parties to submit their respective arguments
(6w-3w-3w)
30 days
Light decision not
duly executed
Art. 100 measures
are required
Inspection report
is conclusive

9. ► Internal discussions jointly with two sitting members
► Auditioning the parties
► Draft decision based on the evidences and arguments
► Notifying the expected sanctions to the defendants
► Final decision & publication on the website
IV. The Litigation Chamber
“Article 100-decision”
(decision on the merits)
► …
► order to comply with the data subject’s request
► order to inform the data subjects about a data
incident
► order to temporarily/permanently suspend,
restrict or prohibit the processing of personal
data (including international data transfers)
► order to make the processing compliant with
the GDPR
► order the rectification, restriction or deletion of
personal data and inform the data recipients
thereof
► impose penalty payments
► impose administrative fines
► decide on a case-by-case basis to publish the
decision on the website of the BDPA
► …

10. IV. Procedure
Citizen or
business
First Line
Service
Litigation
Chamber
Inspection
Service
Market
Court
Complaint
Reconciliation
Order
Warning
Dismissal
Appeal
A. Complaint filed with the DPA and declared admissible by the First Line Service
Penalty

11. IV. Points of attention
► Legislative amendment regarding the role of the plaintiff during the procedure
and the limited timeframe (30 days) for referring cases to the Inspection Service
► Policy on case dismissals (when, why, how?)
► Policy on administrative fines by the BDPA (Administrative fines if necessary
(Guidelines 04/2022 on the calculation of administrative fines under the GDPR)
• Objective: to harmonise the methodology supervisory authorities use when calculating of
the amount of the fine, not to harmonise the amounts of the fines.
► Legal conundrums with regard to the language of the proceedings

12. IV. Points of attention
► Market Court very critical towards the BDPA’s decisions and procedures
• Potential outcomes:
– Confirmation of the decision: e.g. recognition of the competence of the Litigation Chamber to dismiss a
case for reasons of opportunity if duly motivated
– Annulment of the decision; e.g. insufficient motivation
– Reduction of the amount of the Fine (NMBS case – fine 10.000 EUR reduced to 1 EUR).
– Referral to ECJ ; e.g.
» Proximus (C-129/21) on how consent for listing in telephone directoriescan be withdrawn;
» IAB (C-604/22): concerning the basic concepts of “personal data” and ‘controller’;
» Moniteur belge (C-231/22): concerning the qualification as controller of the Belgian State in the
context of publications of notarial extracts in the Belgian Official Gazette.

13. Questions?